The Weekend Hunger Initiative (WHI), Hobbs backpack program, a non profit organization in Hobbs, NM, delivers bags of food to Hobbs ISD students who are food insecure over the weekends. Anyone can volunteer and help provide food for kids. Our volunteer opportunities are endless. You can help us sort through food donations, pack bags of food for hungry children, help with inventory and even deliver selected bags to schools.

​Hobbs Backpack Program solely focuses on the weekend nutritional needs of children in Hobbs. We are the centralized contact point for referrals, we supply the location to pack the backpacks and provide assistance to partner organizations.

Many families are finding it difficult to live here. Rent has increased dramatically; utilities, food and gas have all gone up. Even some of our middle class cannot afford to live in Hobbs.

These children do not have any choices; they cannot drive themselves to the store for food or even ask for help. Many of them have parents who are working, but just do not make enough to make ends meet. These children need a hand up!

﻿Our hungry children need your help﻿!

Please do not hesitate to contact WHI Hobbs if you have questions or concerns.​

﻿​HUNGER FACTS

1. New Mexico is number one in the country for child food insecurity (meaning having little to no food on the weekends).

2. 23% of Lea County's children are food insecure.

3. Of these children, 29% do not qualify for the school food program.

4. Of households with children, nearly 60% report utilizing the school breakfast/lunch program, but the households they live in still require additional help with food assistance.

5. 44% of households with children report their family was not eating enough because they could not afford food.

6. A USDA study indicates that under-nutrition experiences by children during periods of growth impacts their behavior, their school performance, and their overall cognitive development.

October 28, 2015

To Whom It May Concern: The Weekend Hunger Initiative (WHI) program has been such a life-saver to many students within our district. These are children who depend on the school food services to supply the majority of their nutritional needs, and the weekends can be very scary and uncertain when there is little to no food in the home. At Heizer Middle School, we currently have thirteen students who eagerly take advantage of the WHI-Hobbs program. To be honest, however, there are probably at least fifty-plus more who would benefit if they were either aware of, or enrolled in, WHI-Hobbs. Each of these students readily takes the bag of food home, knowing they will at least have something to eat between Friday afternoon and Monday morning. WHI-Hobbs not only provides the food for these children, they are also very accommodating to meet the specific complications that can arise. One specific child is in an Independent Study program and leaves school before the usual delivery time of bags on Friday afternoons. Because of this, WHI-Hobbs makes a special trip to deliver this bag of food on Thursday afternoons or early Friday mornings, just to make sure this young boy does not spend a weekend with nothing to eat. WHI-Hobbs has proven to fill an absolute need within our community, and with the downturn in our local economy, the need is quickly growing. To lose this program would be devastating to many children, as well as to their parents or guardians who strive to raise and nurture them.

I would like to thank you and the WHI team for helping the students at College Lane get the food they need to make it through the weekend. We have families being raised by grandparents, foster families, and families struggling to make ends meet. For some, this bag of food is all they have to make it through the week. We have had students coming by the office daily since the first week of school to ask when they will be getting their bag of food. The smile on their face when we told them the food was coming was priceless. The students, staff and families at College Lane look forward to working together to continue to support struggling families not only at our school but all of Hobbs.On behalf of our College Lane family – Thank you WHI Hobbs!Sincerely,Susan Flowers,PrincipalCollege Lane Elementary

August 25, 2015

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the WHI Hobbs Backpack program in Hobbs, NM.

The WHI Hobbs Backpack Program has been a huge blessing to the students and families of Taylor Elementary. With this program, teachers are able to take hunger out of the equation when better serving the needs of their students. Students have the reassuring knowledge that they will no longer be hungry on the weekends.

As an administrator, I have seen the amazing effect the WHI Hobbs Backpack Program has had on the entire school. I appreciate the fact that since becoming a WHI Backpack School, our attendance has improved and students are coming to school more ready to learn.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Again, I want to thank the WHI Hobbs Backpack Program for all it has done for the Taylor students and their families.